Objective: The study determined the relationship of serum vitamin D levels and 502 lifestyle and nutrition related genetic polymorphisms among adult respondents of the 2013 Philippine National Nutrition Survey (NNS). Methodology: A total of 1,160 adult respondents of the 2013 NNS living in the National Capital Region, Philippines were enrolled. Of the 1,160 sequenced samples, 833 passed the stringent quality control based on multiple parameters and were used for further analysis. Total serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] was determined using electro-chemiluminescence binding assay method. Genomic DNA was used for targeted next generation sequencing of 502 lifestyle and nutrition related polymorphisms. Analysis of variance, followed by Tukey post hoc analysis, was employed to compare 25(OH)D serum levels across genotypes. Results: Of the study participants, 56% was classified as having low serum 25(OH)D. The lower serum 25(OH)D was observed in the following gene/genotypes: KNG1 rs11924390 T/T; ANKH rs2454873 G/G; NPFFR2 rs4129733 T/G; SH2B1 rs4788102 G/A; RAP1A rs494453 T/T and CRHBP rs7728378 T/C. These genes were previously associated to the risk of osteoporosis, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and stress response. Conclusion Large-scale analysis of genes has shown great utility in the discovery of genetic factors that play a role in vitamin D nutrition. Interestingly, loci found in this Filipino population cohort were mostly independent from the canonical vitamin D synthesis and metabolism pathways. Understanding how genetic variations interact with nutrition and lifestyle may aid in the prevention of diseases through screening and identification of susceptible patients who would not benefit from regular supplementation with vitamin D because of genetic alterations and may also be used as basis for future development of functional food enriched with vitamin D.
Vitamin D ; Nutrigenomics

Renal transplantation is one of the renal replacement therapies for patients with end-stage renal disease. The number of patients who receive renal transplantation is continuously increasing, and the use of immunosuppressive drugs that are essential after transplantation requires continuous nutritional management. In the early post-transplantation period, sufficient supply of nutrition in consideration of the increase in metabolic demand is necessary. The long-term nutritional management after transplantation requires nutritional interventions to prevent obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, and osteoporosis, which are the adverse effects associated with the use of immunosuppressive drugs. Department of Dietetics in Samsung Medical Center has been engaging with patients to conduct them about initial nutritional assessment and reassessment, description of therapeutic diet, nutrition education for kidney transplantation, and follow-up education after discharge. Nutritional intervention of kidney transplant patients should be carried out according to the post-transplantation period and the nutritional status of the patient. It is necessary to perform patient management according to the planned process.
Diet ; Dietetics ; Education ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; Hypertension ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Kidney* ; Nutrition Assessment ; Nutritional Status ; Obesity ; Osteoporosis ; Renal Replacement Therapy

Historians of science have noted that modern nation-states and capitalism necessitated the systematic creation and implementation of a wide array of knowledge and technologies to produce a more productive and robust population. Commonly labeled as biopolitical practices in Foucauldian sense, such endeavors have often been discussed in the realms of public hygiene, housing, birth control, and child mortality, among others. This article is an attempt to extend the scope of the discussion by exploring a relatively understudied domain of nutrition science as a critical case of social engineering and intervention, specifically during and after World War I in the case of Japan. Research and dissemination of knowledge on food and health in Japan, like other industrializing nation-states, centered on new public hygiene initiatives since the late nineteenth-century. However, in the aftermath of WWI, or more precisely, after the Rice Riots of 1918, a new trend began to dominate the discourse of nutrition and health. In the face of wartime inflation and the resultant nation-wide riots, physicians and social scientists alike began to view the food choice and budget issue as a solution to the middle class crisis. This new perception drew on the conceptual framework to understand food, metabolism, and cost in the language of quantifiable nutrition vis-à-vis monetary values. By analyzing how specific nutritional knowledge was translated into the tenets for public campaigns to reform everyday life, this paper ultimately sheds light on the institutionalization of a new area of research, nutrition (eiyō) in Japan.
Budgets ; Capitalism ; Child ; Child Mortality ; Contraception ; Eating* ; Housing ; Hygiene ; Inflation, Economic ; Institutionalization ; Japan* ; Metabolism ; Nutritional Sciences* ; Rationalization ; Riots ; World War I

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Competent renal dietitians are crucial for better patient compliance and clinical outcomes, specifically in critical settings. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate an evidence-based course in renal dietetics for dietitians working in health care systems where dietetic specialization is absent. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Fifteen licensed dietitians working with hemodialysis patients in Lebanon were randomly recruited to participate in the course. The latter was developed by the study's primary investigator, according to evidence-based practice guidelines, and focused on all aspects of renal nutrition. Total course duration was 28 hours spread over a 2 month period. Dietitians' knowledge in renal nutrition was tested pre- and post-training through a 23-item questionnaire; the total score was expressed in percentage (< 60% score indicated insufficient knowledge). Paired-samples t test was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Overall knowledge of the dietitians significantly improved post-training and reached satisfactory levels (pre: 38.75 +/- 17.20%, post: 62.08 +/- 21.85%). Sub-analysis of the change in the knowledge showed significant and satisfactory improvement only in 3 topics: 1) correct body weight use in calculations, 2) energy estimation method and 3) phosphorus management. Knowledge in the fluid management significantly improved but did not achieve a satisfactory level. CONCLUSION: The course significantly improved dietitians' knowledge in renal nutrition. If adopted as part of the continuing education of dietitians in countries that lack dietetic specializations, it may serve the first step towards improving health care practice.
Body Weight ; Delivery of Health Care ; Dietetics ; Education, Continuing* ; Evidence-Based Practice ; Humans ; Lebanon ; Nutritionists ; Patient Compliance ; Phosphorus ; Renal Dialysis ; Research Personnel

To evaluate the effect of diet on metabolic control and zinc metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). One-week balanced diet was provided to 10 Brazilians patients with T2DM. Nutritional assessment, laboratorial parameters and expression of zinc transporter and inflammatory genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were performed. Healthy non-diabetic subjects of the same demographic were recruited to provide baseline data. Diabetic patients had higher body mass index and greater fasting plasma glucose, plasma tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) and plasma interleukin 6 (IL6) levels compared with healthy subjects. In addition, the expression of transporters 4 (ZnT4) mRNA was lower and IL6 mRNA was higher in PBMC of these diabetic patients than in healthy subject. One week after a balanced diet was provided, fasting plasma glucose decreased significantly as did TNFalpha, IL6 and Metallothionein 1 (MT1) mRNAs. No change was observed in zinc transporter expression in PBMC after the dietary intervention. A healthy eating pattern maintained for one week was able to improve metabolic control of diabetic patients by lowering fasting plasma glucose. This metabolic control may be related to down-regulation of zinc-related transcripts from PBMCs, as TNFalpha, IL6 and MT1 mRNA.
Blood Glucose ; Body Mass Index ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Diet* ; Down-Regulation ; Eating ; Fasting ; Humans ; Inflammation* ; Interleukin-6 ; Metabolism* ; Metallothionein ; Nutrigenomics ; Nutrition Assessment ; Plasma ; RNA, Messenger ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Zinc*

Child ; Child Nutrition Sciences ; Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena ; China ; Food Supply ; Growth Disorders ; epidemiology ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Malnutrition ; epidemiology ; Poverty ; Sanitation

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to describe the acceptability and feasibility of the “HAPPY ME”, a smartphone application (app) for guiding healthy eating habits and physical activities to prevent childhood obesity, through in-depth interviews of 5th and 6th grade students of an elementary school. METHODS: A total of 25 students were recruited from grades 5 and 6 of an elementary school in Gimpo. They were asked to participate in in-depth interviews about expectations regarding the “HAPPY ME”, smartphone usage behaviors, perceptions and attitudes towards health, and satisfaction with the “HAPPY ME”, before and after the 4-week trial of the “HAPPY ME”. RESULTS: Study participants reported a high level of satisfaction regarding gamification elements such as awarding points as rewards for completing missions and using closed social networking services with friends. They also reported that their eating habits had improved after the 4-week trial. However, some students felt that the app was complicated to use and recommended that it should have prompts as notifications. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the “HAPPY ME” is acceptable and feasible for use with children. However, the app needs to be modified based on the results of this study.
Awards and Prizes ; Child ; Child Nutrition Sciences ; Eating ; Friends ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Mobile Applications ; Motor Activity ; Obesity ; Pediatric Obesity* ; Religious Missions ; Reward ; Smartphone*

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is considered a global pandemic and its incidence continues to grow worldwide. The most common treatments for controlling diabetes focus on glucose control as a means to reduce long-term complications. Major changes in diet have taken place over the past 10,000 years since the beginning of the Agricultural Revolution: however, human genes have not changed. We now live in a nutritional environment that differs from that for which our genetic constitution was selected. Nutrients and dietary patterns are central issues in the prevention, development and treatment of DM. Nutritional genomics studies generally focus on dietary patterns according to genetic variations, the role of gene-nutrient interactions, gene-diet-phenotype interactions and epigenetic modifications caused by nutrients; these studies facilitate an understanding of the early molecular events that occur in DM and contribute to the identification of better biomarkers and diagnostic tools for the disease. In particular, this approach will help develop tailored diets that maximize the use of nutrients and other functional ingredients present in food, which will aid in the prevention and delay of DM and its complications. Here, we provide an understanding of the role of gene variants and nutrient interactions, and discuss the importance of nutrients and dietary patterns on gene expression.
Biomarkers ; Constitution and Bylaws ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diet ; Epigenomics ; Gene Expression ; Genetic Variation ; Glucose ; Humans ; Incidence ; Nutrigenomics* ; Pandemics ; Phenotype ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to examine nutrition problems and causes/contributing risk factors. METHODS: This study was conducted using data 1,863 adults visited Asan health screening & promotion center located in Seoul, Korea during May to June of 2013. We used Nutrition Care Process Model developed by the International Dietetics & Nutrition Terminology (IDNT). RESULTS: The most frequent nutrition problem in male subjects was excessive alcohol intake. Men in fifties showed the highest rate of excessive alcohol intake among the age groups examined (22.4%). By comparison, the most frequent nutrition problem in women was inadequate protein intake. Women in fifties exhibited the highest rate of inadequate protein intake (22.5%). The most common contributing factors for these observations were a low preference for dairy products followed by high preference for alcohol and a deficit in food-and nutrition-related knowledge, regardless of the sex and age. The most common nutrition problem observed among the group diagnosed with hyperglycemia or hypertriglyceridemia or hyperuricemia or fatty liver was excessive alcohol intake (p<0.001), whereas the group diagnosed with hyperglycemia or hypercholesterolemia showed significantly higher rate of inappropriate intake of carbohydrate (fructose) compared to the group not diagnosed with such disease conditions (p<0.05). The group diagnosed with hypercholesterolemia, hyperuricemia and fatty liver showed significantly higher occurrence of inappropriate intake of fat (saturated fat) than the group free of such diseases (p< 0.001). The osteopenia group showed higher rate of inadequate protein intake (p<0.001) and the fatty liver group with excessive energy intake (p<0.001). Overall, the results suggest that there is a significant relationship between nutrition problems and health conditions found in groups diagnosed with a diverse array of medical conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, we strongly suggest that dieticians should implement nutrition interventions with people visiting health screening & promotion center based on nutrition problems and the contributing factors diagnosed by dietitions in order to prevent chronic diseases in this population.
Adult* ; Bone Diseases, Metabolic ; Chronic Disease ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Dairy Products ; Dietetics ; Energy Intake ; Fatty Liver ; Female ; Humans ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Hyperglycemia ; Hypertriglyceridemia ; Hyperuricemia ; Korea ; Male ; Mass Screening* ; Nutritionists ; Risk Factors ; Seoul

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Studies have indicated that university students majoring in nutrition and dietetics or sport sciences may have more obsessions associated with eating attitudes and body shape perception compared to other disciplines i.e. social sciences. Therefore, this study aimed to assess and compare the risk of eating disorders and body shape perception. MATERIALS/METHODS: Data was collected from 773 undergraduate students at the Departments of Nutrition and Dietetics (NDD) (n = 254), Physical Education and Sports (PESD) (n = 263), and Social Sciences (SOC) (n = 256).A socio-demographic and personal information questionnaire, Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-40), Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ-34), Perceived Figure Rating Scale (FRS) were applied; and body weights and heights were measured. RESULTS: Mean EAT-40 scores showed that, both male and female students of PESD had the highest scores (17.4 +/- 11.6) compared with NDD (14.3 +/- 8.3) and SOC (13.0 +/- 6.2) (P < 0.05). According to EAT-40 classification, high risk in abnormal eating behavior was more in PESD (10.7%) compared to NDD (2.9%) and SOC (0.4%) students (P < 0.05). Students of PESD, who skipped meal, had higher tendency to the risk of eating disorders (P < 0.05). In parallel, body shape perception was found to be marked with higher scores in NDD (72.0 +/- 28.7) and PESD (71.5 +/- 32.8) compared with SOC (64.2 +/- 27.5) students (P < 0.05). Considering BSQ-34 classification, high concern (moderate and marked) for body shape were more in PESD (7.4 %) compared to NDD (5.2%) and SOC (1.9%) students (P < 0.05). The body size judgement via obtained by the FRS scale were generally correlated with BMI. The Body Mass Index levels were in normal range (Mean BMI: 21.9 +/- 2.8 kg/m2) and generally consistent with FRS data. CONCLUSIONS: Tendency to the abnormal eating behavior and substantial body shape perception were higher in PESD students who have more concern on body shape and were not well-educated about nutrition. In conclusion, substantial concern on physical appearance might affect eating behavior disorders in PESD students.
Affect ; Body Image ; Body Mass Index ; Body Size ; Body Weight ; Classification ; Dietetics ; Eating ; Feeding and Eating Disorders* ; Feeding Behavior ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Meals ; Mental Disorders ; Obsessive Behavior ; Physical Education and Training ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Reference Values ; Social Sciences ; Sports*